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Following initial Alpha Quadrant expeditions into the Gamma Quadrant, rumors began to filter through of a ruthless race of conquerors known only as "The Dominion". In 2370, first contact was officially made between the Federation and the Dominion, when the Jem'Hadar destroyed the Starfleet vessel USS Odyssey. A state of cold war rapidly developed thereafter between several of the Alpha Quadrant's major powers and the Dominion. A Dominion invasion was widely regarded as inevitable, as the Founders were driven by a xenophobic need to exert absolute authority over all other civilizations. (DS9: "The Search, Part II")

By manipulating frustrated warrior sentiments in the Klingon Empire, and implanting false information that the Cardassian change of government had been engineered by the Founders, the Dominion was able to trigger the Klingon-Cardassian War. The Federation condemned the Klingon invasion, leading to a severe deterioration of relations between the two powers, ultimately concluding with the Federation-Klingon War.

The Klingon invasion of Cardassia had all but destroyed Cardassian infrastructure. In mid-2373, frustrated at the apparent cowardice of the Detapa Council, and the broken state of the Cardassian people, GulDukat negotiated the entry of the Cardassian Union into the Dominion. Dukat himself was placed as head of the new Cardassian government. The Dominion rapidly began fortifying Cardassia with heavily armed convoys on a weekly basis. Within three days of their arrival, the Jem'Hadar had expelled the Klingons from Cardassian space entirely, and completely annihilated the Maquis in the Demilitarized Zone. In the face of the new Dominion foothold in the Alpha Quadrant, the Federation and the Klingons renewed the Khitomer Accords. (DS9: "By Inferno's Light", "Blaze of Glory")

Although open war did not begin immediately, violence along the Cardassian border escalated, with ships such as the USS Tian An Men and the IKS B'Moth being reported missing, though both were later located. The Dominion began making strategic political inroads in the Alpha Quadrant, signing nonaggression pacts with the Tholian Assembly, the Miradorn, Bajor, and, perhaps most significantly, the Romulan Star Empire. With five large convoys having entered the Alpha Quadrant unopposed, the Federation Alliance realized they would soon face an impossible strategic position.

Intent on preventing the Federation from completing the minefield, Weyoun arrived on Deep Space 9 and delivered an ultimatum; either Sisko would remove the mines, or the Dominion would. Sisko refused the ultimatum, and, two days later, a large Dominion fleet attacked and captured Deep Space 9. Trusting that the minefield would be activated in time, the Federation Alliance opted not to reinforce the station but used the opportunity to take advantage of the diverted Dominion ships to destroy the Dominion shipyards at Torros III. Though the minefield was successfully activated, the Allies were forced to retreat from the Bajoran system, and the station was subsequently garrisoned by Dominion forces. (DS9: "Call to Arms", "Behind the Lines")

Dukat and Weyoun confer over Dominion strategy

Over the following months, Allied forces were forced to retreat on all fronts in the wake of several decisively successful Dominion campaigns. At each instance, the Allies suffered catastrophic losses. During this campaign, Starfleet suffered one of its worst defeats of the war when the Seventh Fleet was dispatched to halt the Dominion's advance at the Tyra system. In the subsequent battle, 98 starships were destroyed out of a fleet of 112, leaving thousands dead. Morale among the forces of the Federation Alliance plummeted, and it became a question of when, not if, the Alliance would be defeated. (DS9: "A Time to Stand")

While the Allies suffered repeated defeats in large fleet actions, Starfleet and Klingon ships had greater success in raiding operations and in combating small patrols of Jem'Hadar ships. Such operations included the destruction of the Dominion's primary ketracel-white storage facility in the Alpha Quadrant, and the destruction of a massive Dominion sensor array in the Argolis Cluster. The Dominion began suffering a shortage of ketracel-white, greatly concerning the Cardassians in particular. GlinnDamar even proposed that the last rations of white be poisoned if new supplies could not be secured, preventing the Jem'Hadar from running amok.

Nevertheless, the Dominion continued to conquer large swathes of Federation and Klingon territory, even approaching the Vulcan border and Bolian territory. On Deep Space 9, efforts to dismantle the minefield surrounding the wormhole were finally beginning to bear fruit. Although Allied forces scored several minor successes in single-ship duels and in small groups, the inexorable Dominion advance compelled them to continually retreat. Morale sunk lower, with even the Klingons doubting they could defeat the Dominion. (DS9: "Behind the Lines", "Favor the Bold")

By the latter half of 2374, the Allies were perilously close to defeat. A major victory was needed, if anything to boost morale. Captain Benjamin Sisko, knowing the Dominion would likely figure out how to disable the minefield eventually, proposed to Starfleet Command the Federation Alliance had to go on the offensive. Sisko's plan was to assemble a task force to recapture Deep Space 9, the most strategically important site in the Alpha Quadrant, at the mouth of the wormhole. Despite misgivings that it would leave Earth vulnerable, Starfleet approved the plan.

The Klingons proved more difficult to convince; ChancellorGowron held the same concerns as Starfleet, in committing as many ships as would be required to re-take Deep Space 9, it would leave the Empire vulnerable. While GeneralMartok and Lieutenant CommanderWorf made Starfleet's plea to Gowron in person, Federation forces began assembling at Starbase 375. Unfortunately, Starfleet soon received intelligence from active resistance members on Deep Space 9 that the minefield was only three days from being destroyed.

With no word having arrived from the Klingons, and only two-thirds of the Starfleet force assembled, Vice AdmiralWilliam Ross authorized Benjamin Sisko to lead the 627 ships assembled in an effort to prevent the Dominion from removing the mines. In response, Dukat pulled 1,254 warships from the front lines to intercept the Federation fleet, stalling Dominion advances into Allied territory. (DS9: "Favor the Bold")

Klingon warships in combat during Operation Return

Though outnumbered two to one, Starfleet engaged the Dominion fleet. With the timely arrival of Klingon forces, the Dominion lines collapsed, and the fleet dispersed. Though the USS Defiant breached the lines, it was unable to prevent the destruction of the minefield. With no options remaining, Sisko took the Defiant into the wormhole, and was able to strike a bargain with the Prophets to remove the Dominion forces to protect Bajor. The 2,800 Dominion ships in the wormhole disappeared, and with two hundred Allied ships approaching Bajor, the Dominion position on Deep Space 9 became untenable. The Dominion withdrew all forces to Cardassian territory, giving the Allied forces a decisive victory.

Dukat suffered a mental breakdown at the defeat, along with the concurrent murder of his daughter, Tora Ziyal, and was captured by the victorious Allied forces. Damar was subsequently promoted to legate, and succeeded him as leader of the Cardassian Union. (DS9: "Sacrifice of Angels")

Following the decisive Allied victory in recapturing Deep Space 9, the Dominion forces withdrew to Cardassian space, and major operations temporarily ceased. (DS9: "Resurrection") Legate Damar extended an olive branch to the Federation, hoping to negotiate a cease fire and end the war. Weyoun proposed to redraw the Federation-Cardassian border to give disputed star systems to the side with de facto control, an arrangement which generally favored the Federation. However, a think-tank of genetically engineered individuals led by Julian Bashir deduced that the Dominion's true goal was to obtain the Kabrel system. Though strategically unimportant, the Kabrel system contained a tri-nucleic fungi that could be processed to allow the Dominion to produce near-endless amounts of ketracel-white.

Bashir advised that the Federation accept the peace proposal; while many suspected the Dominion would renege on any agreement to buy time to re-group, the Allies were in a far greater need of a respite than the Dominion. Instead, the Federation made a counter-proposal and the talks ended inconclusively. (DS9: "Statistical Probabilities")

Having recovered from the loss of Deep Space 9, in late 2374, the Dominion launched a surprise invasion of Betazed from the Kalandra sector, capturing the planet in less than ten hours. With control of this key Federation member world, the Dominion had scored a decisive strategic success; it was now in a position to launch offensives against Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, and Alpha Centauri. The Second Fleet launched three counter-attacks in just one month against Betazed; however all were repulsed. For the Federation Alliance, suffering from shortages of ships and manpower, defeat once again seemed only a matter of time. (DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight", "The Sound of Her Voice")

"Think about it, they're in the perfect position. They get to sit back and watch as their biggest rivals slug it out in a long, bloody war. No one's threatening their interests. Why should they risk their necks? There's simply no reason for them to get involved in our war."

The Romulan Star Empire had hitherto remained neutral in the Dominion War, although they were turning a blind eye to Dominion warships crossing through their territory to ambush Federation convoys and shipping. Captain Benjamin Sisko reasoned that the addition of the Romulan military could prove decisive in reversing the fortunes of the Dominion. With the help of Elim Garak, and the approval of Starfleet, a covert mission was carried out to implicate the Dominion in a planned invasion of Romulus; however, Garak used this operation for the assassination of SenatorVreenak, the most ardent pro-Dominion advocate in the Romulan Senate. From the wreckage of Vreenak's destroyed ship, the Tal Shiar recovered a recording of an alleged top-level Dominion conference bringing forward the planning of the invasion.

In response, the Romulan Empire officially declared war on the Dominion. Within hours, the Romulans struck fifteen bases along the Romulan-Cardassian border, opening the Romulan front to the war. Although progress remained slow for the allies, the Romulans drove Dominion forces off of Benzar within months of joining the war effort. During the Romulan fight against the Dominion, Shinzon distinguished himself in the Romulan military, leading twelve major engagements against the Jem'Hadar, all of them successful. (DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight", "The Reckoning"; Star Trek Nemesis)

With the Romulans now fully committed to the Federation Alliance, options for a general offensive into Cardassian territory became a viable possibility. The Romulans had reservations that such an attack could succeed only at horrendous cost, favoring to contain the Dominion within Cardassian space. However, Benjamin Sisko convinced their delegation that the only course to victory was to destroy the Dominion's military-industrial complex itself. The Allies agreed they would commit their efforts to the Chin'toka system, its defenses having recently been thinned to provide additional support for the Romulan front.

In late 2374, the Federation Alliance launched their first offensive into Cardassian space, capturing Chin'toka after a hard fight. (DS9: "Tears of the Prophets") Although the planned attack against Cardassia itself was not realized, owing to heavy losses taking Chin'toka, the successful invasion was a tremendous boost to Allied morale. The Allied hold on Chin'toka was tenuous at best; the system remained under almost constant attack, making it extremely difficult to reinforce the garrisoned forces. Further offensives were bloodily repulsed; a Klingon fleet lost thirty percent of its strength attacking Monac IV. (DS9: "Image in the Sand", "The Siege of AR-558")

In 2375, the Federation learned of a development that would ultimately help determine the course of the war: a deadly morphogenic virus had infected the Great Link. Despite the Dominion's technological prowess, they were unable to find a cure, and it was determined it would only be a matter of time before the Founders would die. (DS9: "Treachery, Faith and the Great River") It was later discovered that the virus had been engineered by Section 31, a rogue branch of Starfleet Intelligence. Although Julian Bashir did find a cure, the Federation Council decided to withhold it from the Dominion for strategic concerns. Some protested this act as abetting genocide. (DS9: "Extreme Measures", "The Dogs of War")

Meanwhile, the Alliance's slowly encroaching front-line had begun to seriously strain relations in the precarious Dominion-Cardassian alliance. The Founders and their Vorta underlings tended to rest blame upon the Cardassian military for the defeats on the frontlines, an accusation that Legate Damar found particularly galling. Many Cardassian soldiers grew distrustful and resentful of the Dominion, while the Dominion continued to erode Cardassian autonomy.

Seeking to rescue the war effort, in mid-2375, the Dominion conducted secret negotiations with the elusive Breen Confederacy to propose a military alliance; negotiations which the Cardassians were not privy to. The Dominion granted the Breen unspecified Cardassian territorial concessions in exchange, concessions which Legate Damar had neither seen nor agreed to. His objections were summarily overruled. (DS9: "Penumbra", "'Til Death Do Us Part")

In ultimately unused dialogue from the first draft script of "The Changing Face of Evil", Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir speculated that there was "a good chance" that the Federation Alliance would lose the war, with they themselves being killed in the process.

Allied ships are annihilated during the Breen counter-attack on Chin'toka

The only Allied warship to escape the Breen energy dissipators at Chin'toka was a Klingon warship, the IKS Ki'tang, owing to a chance modification of the ship's tritium intermix. General Martok ordered the modifications across the entire Klingon fleet, and had 1,500 warships ready for deployment the following day. With the Federation and Romulan fleets effectively useless in the interim until a countermeasure could be developed, the Klingons were left with the daunting task of holding the front-line against the Breen-Dominion Alliance. (DS9: "When It Rains...")

However, the Allied defensive efforts were soon jeopardized by Chancellor Gowron, who believed his political position had become threatened by Martok's popularity in the Empire. Gowron took direct command of the Klingon fleet and repeatedly ordered Martok on hopeless attacks, intending for him to be killed or disgraced. With the safety of the Alpha Quadrant at stake, Benjamin Sisko ordered Lieutenant Commander Worf to deal with Gowron. Worf directly challenged his leadership, and slew him in single combat. Worf then proclaimed General Martok as the next Chancellor of the Klingon High Council. (DS9: "Tacking Into the Wind")

Damar rallying the Cardassian people against the Dominion

Meanwhile, the Federation Alliance saw a strategic opportunity in the Cardassian rebellion to keep the Breen-Dominion Alliance constantly off-balance. The Federation supplied replicators, weapons and food supplies to the rebels, and dispatched Kira Nerys to train Damar's troops in guerrilla tactics. (DS9: "When It Rains...")

The Cardassian rebels began carrying out a number of sabotaging attacks on Dominion ships and military installations, and were able to deliver a functioning Breen energy dissipator to the Allied forces. (DS9: "Tacking Into the Wind") Unfortunately, however, the success of Damar's revolt was short-lived. Gul Revok, who allegedly wanted to defect to the rebels, betrayed them to the Dominion. Jem'Hadar and Breen ships rapidly destroyed all eighteen rebel bases, ending the organized resistance against the Founders' rule. (DS9: "The Dogs of War")

Although the Cardassian military rebellion had ostensibly been crushed, Starfleet and Romulan engineers were able to develop a countermeasure to the Breen energy dissipator, thus denying the Dominion their one major tactical advantage over the Allies. Facing a renewed counter-offensive on a wide front, the Dominion-Breen forces withdrew from all conquered territories and established a fortified perimeter within Cardassian space. Their hope was that the Allies would balk at the cost of breaching the perimeter, giving the Dominion time to rebuild.

While containing the Dominion within its present borders was a tempting move, the senior Allied commanders argued the Dominion could not be afforded any respite. Instead, the Allies would mobilize all their available ships to launch a single, decisive strike against the heart of Dominion power in the Alpha Quadrant: Cardassia. (DS9: "Tacking Into the Wind", "The Dogs of War")

The Allied fleet departs Deep Space 9 to invade Cardassia

On Cardassia itself, the remnants of the resistance had not been idle. The bold revolt, though ultimately defeated, had left a scintillating impression upon the Cardassian people. Buoyed with this knowledge, Damar, Garak, and Kira Nerys successfully bombed a Jem'Hadar barracks, rallying the civilian population into a popular uprising against the Dominion.

Meanwhile, the Allied fleet crossed into Dominion space and engaged the Dominion-Breen forces in battle. Concurrently, popular revolt on Cardassia sabotaged the planet's power grid, cutting off transportation and communication systems, causing a planetary blackout. The fleet defending Cardassia was completely cut off from Dominion Headquarters. In retaliation, hoping to discourage further attacks, the Jem'Hadar destroyed Lakarian City, killing two million civilians. Instead, it had the opposite effect; the Cardassian military abrogated their alliance, fracturing the Dominion lines, forcing it to retreat. Infuriated, the Female Changeling ordered the Jem'Hadar to exterminate the Cardassian population.

Cardassia Prime in ruins after the Jem'Hadar bombardment

While the Jem'Hadar rampaged across the planet, the Dominion-Breen fleets in orbit of Cardassia were ordered to fight to the death, ensuring only a Pyrrhic Allied victory. As the Allies laid siege to Cardassia, rebels breached Dominion Headquarters, capturing the Founder. Odo convinced the Founder to surrender rather than fight; in exchange he would return to and cure the Great Link of the morphogenic virus. The Founder agreed, and the Dominion forces surrendered; the first time it had ever done so in battle. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")

The instrument of surrender, the Treaty of Bajor, was signed on Deep Space 9 between representatives of the Federation Alliance and the Dominion several days after the surrender at Cardassia. The treaty stipulated the Dominion would effect a complete military withdrawal to the Gamma Quadrant, while Alpha Quadrant territories were reverted to their boundaries as of stardate 50564.0, just prior to the Dominion's initial incursion into the Alpha Quadrant. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")

The Dominion War significantly shifted the power dynamics of the Alpha Quadrant. The Cardassian Union had collapsed as a major power in the quadrant; over eight hundred million civilians had been killed by the Jem'Hadar in mere hours, in addition to over seven million troops during the war, and Cardassia Prime had been severely devastated. The Breen Confederacy had shown both its impressive military and technological capabilities and its desire for violent expansion.

The Klingon Empire, having previously suffered heavy casualties in the conflicts with the Cardassians and the Federation, was projected to focus on recovering from the war for a decade. The two remaining major powers were the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. Romulan relations with the Federation declined after the war, with the Federation embargo on Romulan goods reinstated. This resumption of pre-war attitudes would last until 2379, when a coup led by noted Dominion War commander Shinzon of Remus led to a brief conflict, and Shinzon's defeat to hope for improved relations with the Romulan Empire. (DS9: "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges", "What You Leave Behind"; Star Trek Nemesis)

In the Gamma Quadrant the order of the Dominion was maintained when Odo, fulfilling his pledge to the Female Changling, did indeed return to the Great Link thus curing it of the morphogenic virus. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")

Ira Steven Behr and Ronald D. Moore were the writers most involved with the creation and development of the Dominion War. Rick Berman wanted the war to be over within three or four episodes at the most. Behr and Moore knew the series would never be able to wrap up the war in that many episodes. Berman also criticized the "depressing" and "violent" stories. Moore later said "It's a f___in' war! What do you mean it's too violent?!" [1](X)

Armin Shimerman had hoped to have seen the Ferengi involved more in the Dominion War arc. Shimerman commented: "It would have been very interesting to see how people made profits off of wars, to see a black market during the war, to see how the Ferengi, who were basically neutral during the war, behaved. We did a bit of that but we didn't delve into that as much as we could have". ("The Once and Future Ferengi: Armin Shimerman Reflects on Quark", Star Trek: Communicator issue 130)

Majel Barrett criticized the arc in a letter published in Star Trek: Communicator(citation needed • edit), claiming that Gene Roddenberry would have never approved of a continuing war in a Star Trek series. Berman has espoused similar sentiments, noting that his opposition "was all based purely on the fact that Gene had been very specific to me about not wanting Star Trek to be a show about intergalactic wars, interspecies wars. He didn't want it to be about humans fighting wars against other species." [2] Responding to the former, Moore admitted, "She's probably right. It would've been very hard to argue Gene into going this way and maybe he'd have never gone for it. However, I would've still argued for doing the Dominion War with him and if he'd rejected it, I would've thought he was wrong. I respect Gene and his work, but I don't think he was always right and I'm not going to pretend that I do. The Dominion War has been one of the better storylines we've come up with whether Gene would've agreed or not." (AOL chat,1999)

Bjo Trimble commented: "I feel that Gene might have come to like DS9, had he lived to see it. There might have been some changes. Majel recently said that GR would have hated the war in DS9, but frankly I am amazed that she cannot see the same theme in much of what Gene did, including his recent "discovery" of Earth: Final Conflict. The only reason there were not full battles in early Trek is lack of funds to pull it off, and lack of technology to show it. Otherwise, GR would certainly have added it; he knew what audiences liked. I don't know about Voyager; I can't see where it's going, and I don't feel GR would have liked that. I don't think he would have liked the last couple of movies; they were very far removed from the Trek Gene came up with". [3]